Royal Caribbean Blog contributor Michael Poole is on Freedom of the Seas this week reporting all about his cruise experience.
It’s been a few years since I’ve been to St. Thomas, so I was excited to get back to this beautiful port of call. I didn’t have anything booked prior to the cruise, but my brother talked me into snorkeling with sea turtles and sting rays.
The excursion cost $99 per person and last around six hours, so it was a full day activity. The official name of the getaway is Caribbean sail to Christmas & Honeymoon Coves.
We docked in St. Thomas at 11am and my ticket said to meet in the theater at 11am for an express departure. It’s been awhile since I’ve done a Royal Caribbean excursion, as I usually do my own thing, but it was very organized and I was very impressed.
We sailed over to Christmas Cove in a large sailboat, looked like one out of Pirates of the Caribbean. The boat was pretty rocky from the wake and it took around a half hour to get there.
The guides were very informative with our gear and what we were about to see. We saw quite a few sea turtles ranging in size and I loved when they came up for air. The water was so clear you could see straight down to the bottom, I can’t even describe how beautiful the water is.
After playing with the turtles for a bit, we went over where all the sting rays were, and I’m not going to lie it scared me at first. After a few minutes of noticing they don’t bother you, I started to get a bit more relaxed.
We were snorkeling in the water for a little over an hour then back onboard for honeymoon cove.
Our ride over to the next stop took a little over an hour and they served rum punch and went very slow. At this point we were all just relaxing and enjoying our views.
Once we arrived to the cove you could jump off and swim to shore or have the tender boat take you over. Of course, I jumped off and headed over to the cove, I mean how over do you get to swim to shore in the Caribbean?
They served a small buffet lunch and we just relaxed for a few hours. The total excursion lasted six hours and we were back onboard at 6:30 and we left St. Thomas at 7pm.
Cell Phones
Just a little pointer if you have AT&T cell phone service, you will get phone service at no extra charge. I was actually able to pick up full 4G LTE, which was much faster than the ship Internet.
My brother has Verizon and it was roaming all day, so that’s one more perk of having AT&T.
Dinner
Tonight we headed back to the main dining room for dinner at 8pm.
Freedom of the Seas is the only ship I know of that does dinner at 8pm and not 8:30 for late dinner.
Tonight at dinner they introduced all the staff and managers on the staircase, and played more music.
One of my favorite things about our waiter is each night he brings extra dishes we didn’t order for everyone to try. This is just one more way Royal Caribbean goes the extra mile to ensure you have a great dining experience.
I’m sorry for no food porn, I was locked out of my cabin and didn’t have time to get a new key before dinner.
Post Dinner
After dinner each night my group, plus some new friends we have met meet up at the R Bar.
This bar is new to Freedom of the Seas and replaced the Champagne Bar in January during her dry dock.
I usually spend a lot of time at the pub, but I’ve just loved going to the R Bar each evening. They are known for fresh cocktails, I’ve been having an old fashion each night and they are just perfect. The décor in this bar is very intimate and creates a great vibe for a romantic drink before or after dinner.
Dancing Under the Stars
Tonight was the Dancing Under the Stars Party on the pool deck from 10:30pm to 12:00am. This is always one of my favorite events during the week to dance under the stars.
Only problem was almost no one showed up! I couldn’t believe how empty it was on the pool deck, mostly just teenagers. I’m not really sure what caused the party to be a flop, maybe everyone was just so tired from being in St. Thomas all day.
The bar closed down at midnight and I decided to call it a night... well after my late night pizza, that is.
That’s all from St. Thomas; tomorrow we visit my favorite port St. Maarten.
